


Demons Aren't Mice (but Neither are they Men)

by ohjustdisarmalready



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, I feel like Sam and Crowley could be bros if they were very careful about it, References to various works of literature, all according to Crowley's Great Master Plan, beware the symbolism, there is so much symbolism, this whole story is a giant mess of metaphor, you don't have to read them don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 19:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1237744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjustdisarmalready/pseuds/ohjustdisarmalready
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crowley and Sam make a book club in the dungeon. Castiel is a part-time member</p>
            </blockquote>





	Demons Aren't Mice (but Neither are they Men)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Safiyabat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Safiyabat/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Adventures in Bunkersitting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055140) by [Safiyabat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Safiyabat/pseuds/Safiyabat). 



> All you need to know is that in Of Mice and Men, Lenny is this super strong, vaguely mentally handicapped guy who accidentally killed a girl because he was trying to pet her hair. George is his cousin who kills him at the end of the book. Spoilers!
> 
> As a disclaimer, these are not my actual views of any of these books. It's been at least a year since I've read any of them, and some of them I haven't read at all. Whoops.

“George shouldn’t have killed Lenny.”

Sam looked up. “What?”

“ _Of Mice and Men_. George shouldn’t have killed Lenny.”

“No, George was doing the right thing. Lenny was a danger to everyone around him, it was only a matter of time before he killed someone else without meaning to. He had to be stopped.” Why was he debating ethics with a demon anyway? Oh, right, because there was no peace to be found elsewhere in the bunker. He turned back to his book. “Besides, you’re not supposed to spoil the ending.”

Crowley snorted. “You already knew it anyway. He was around George his whole life, wasn’t he? George wasn’t hurt.”

“George got lucky.”

“Is that what you really think?”

Sam kept reading.

*

“Isn’t it funny how they destroyed anything different, called it ‘evil’ because it was a new idea?”

Sam stuck a bookmark in _Fahrenheit 451_. He got up and left.

*

“I don’t think I like this crayon too much. You wouldn’t happen to have a pen you could lend me, would you?”

“Look, Crowley, the only reason I’m here is because it is _quiet_. I will take drastic measures to make sure it _stays_ quiet if I need to.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

*

“It’s funny how he fixates on certain things. If you do some of that research you love, you’ll see those things are the results of orders that were made incompetently or people working against him.”

“I think he’s fixating because he has PTSD, Crowley. When did you even read this?”

“Well, being traumatized is nothing to be ashamed of. I just think he should have trusted less and thought more.”

Sam slammed _The Things They Carried_ shut in despair.

*

“You know, it wasn’t Macbeth’s fault he killed all those people, really.”

“Yes, Crowley, it is absolutely Macbeth’s fault. The whole thing was Macbeth’s fault. There is no universe in which Macbeth is innocent, no matter how you look at it.”

“Hmm. You wanted to be a lawyer, right? You should know this. When someone is unable to make a good decision—say, if they were high on a mind-altering drug—they aren’t totally responsible for what they do. Someone whose wife was manipulating him that much in addition to being half-sane in the first place? Poor man didn’t stand a chance.”

“People still died, Crowley. Macbeth got what he deserved.”

*

Sam slammed the paper down on Crowley’s table.

“Oh, what’s this? ‘Crowley: I offer unsolicited opinions on your literature.’ That’s almost sweet.”

“Shut up, I’m reading.”

*

“It’s much nicer now.”

“We do not have a book club, Crowley. You have a dungeon that I hijack so I can read in peace. Sometimes you tell me the protagonists are or are not evil. A book club would be voluntary on at least one of our parts.”

“Hey, I’m not forcing you to do anything. Look at all the forcing I’m not doing.”

“I’ll be sure to bake you a cake once you get to the random act of kindness.”

*

“…Crowley?”

“It speaks!”

“Is that an essay?”

“Annotated and with point-by-point proofs. Can I have that pen now?”

Sam left the dungeon. He took the essay/book club sign and the crayon with him.

*

Dean slammed into Sam’s room.

“Sam, why the fuck does Crowley have an A+ on his wall?”

“Hmm. Weird.”

*

“Wow, it’s like you’re trying to move in. Are we going to start having slumber parties now?”

“Shut up and tell me what you think of _Ivanhoe_. I’m not too sure about my interpretation of one of the characters; I need a second opinion.”

*

“Sam.” Castiel didn’t blink at Sam’s position in a pile of blankets on the floor of the dungeon. “Crowley.”

Both were scanning copies of _Good Omens_. Sam wordlessly handed a third to Castiel. “We’re only on the third chapter, it shouldn’t be hard to catch up.”

*

“Castiel.”

“Yes, Crowley?”

“Moose and I were talking about _Of Mice and Men_. Was Lenny really so dangerous that he deserved to die?”

Castiel paused as he considered. Crowley gave him a meaningful look. “…No. I initially thought otherwise, but now I don’t believe he was. George could have acted as an effective moderator if he’d been willing to look past Lenny’s failures, even when Lenny least understood what it meant to be human.”

“I thought so, too.”

Sam burrowed a little deeper into his blankets.

*

“Crowley?”

“Shh. He’s out cold, but that could change if you aren’t careful.”

“I know what you’re doing.”

“What, reading? I’ve been known to do that from time to time.”

“Thank you. Sam deserves to feel safe.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Feathers. Put some tea on if you want to feel useful, none of that caffeinated garbage. There’s got to be something of quality in this bunker, hasn’t there?”

“Of course. Because you are a human being that needs beverages to survive.”

“Shut your mouth.”

*

“Crowley?”

“Moose?”

“George had no other choice than to kill Lenny. If he hadn’t done it, someone else would have.”

“No, they wouldn’t.”

“Lenny was uncontrollable.”

“He had George. Probably could have had someone else, too, if he’d lived long enough.”

“He deserved to die.”

“No.”

“But _why_? He killed someone. He ruined George’s life and broke his trust. That’s not something you can just… _forgive_!”

“He saw a pretty girl. He wanted to touch her hair. He didn’t know he was killing her; since when is it a crime to want something good in your life? He had no way of knowing, and he suffered enough once he realized what he’d done. Killing him was just clichéd.”

*

“Crowley?”

“ _Yes_ , Moose?”

“Lenny…Lenny did something that was evil.”

“Lenny did something that didn’t seem wrong to him that had unforeseen consequences.”

“Crowley…”

“Sa-am…”

“Lenny. Lenny wasn’t—Lenny didn’t deserve to die.”

“Good boy.”

*

“Did you know? About Gadreel, did you know I was possessed?”

“Not a thing, Sam. Castiel didn’t know and neither did I. We would have done something, I swear.”

“Demons lie.”

“You’ll have to decide for yourself whether to trust me or not; I won’t force you.”

“Kevin didn’t deserve to die.”

“No. He didn’t.”

“Neither did Curley’s wife.”

“I don’t know, I never liked-“

“Crowley.”

“No, if we’re gonna go from the human point of view, she didn’t.”

“Lenny was the reason she died.”

“Not really, but he was there.”

“But Lenny doesn’t deserve to die.”

“No, Sam. He doesn’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! Have some tiny amount of not-suicidalness, Sam. I hope it goes this well for you this evening.


End file.
